Capone had previously housed his headquarters at the nearby Metropole Hotel, but in July 1928 moved to a suite at the Lexington Hotel. Capone ran his various enterprises from this hotel until his arrest in 1931. A construction company (Sunbow) in the 1980s planned a renovation of the Lexington Hotel and while surveying the building discovered a shooting range and a series of secret tunnels including one hidden behind Capone's medicine cabinet. These tunnels connected taverns and brothels to provide an elaborate potential escape route in case of a police raid. These discoveries led to further investigation of the hotel, notably by researcher Harold Rubin. Rumors said Capone had kept a very secret vault beneath the hotel to hold some of his wealth.[citation needed]

When the vault was finally opened, the only things found inside were dirt and several empty bottles including one Rivera claimed was for moonshinebathtub gin. Despite the ending, the special became the most-watchedsyndicated television special with an estimated audience of 30 million. After the show, Rivera was quoted as saying "Seems like we struck out".[1] However, in his 1991 autobiographyExposing Myself, he wrote, regarding the event, "My career was not over, I knew, but had just begun. And all because of a silly, high-concept stunt that failed to deliver on its titillating promise."[citation needed]

On May 3, 1986, Monkee Micky Dolenz served as a guest VJ on MTV, and announced in played-up Geraldo fashion that there was a secret door discovered inside of MTV that would be opened for the first time in ages, and that viewers would see the possible treasures inside whatever room the door led to. When the door was later "forced" open, it merely led out to the street.

The special was parodied in "Weird Al" Yankovic's 1989 movie UHF, when George Newman (Weird Al), hosting his own TV talk show, "unlock[s] the mysteries of Al Capone's glove compartment!" The glove compartment was then shown to contain road maps.

In the 1989 "The Ghostbusters Live! from Al Capone's Tomb!" episode of the animated TV series The Real Ghostbusters, Peter Venkman ropes the Ghostbusters into appearing on a much-hyped TV special called "Live from Al Capone's Tomb!" Opening the tomb leads to a confrontation with Capone's ghost, but since none of it is captured on camera, none of the viewers believe the Ghostbusters' story.

In the 1997 Academy Award winning film, Titanic, after Brock empties the salvaged safe in the beginning of the film, and discovers that the Heart of the Oceandiamond he is looking for is not in there, his partner, Lewis, cynically remarks, "The same thing happened to Geraldo, and his career never recovered."

In the 2002 episode of Sealab 2021, "The Policy", Quinn tells his crewmates that the treasure hunt they are on is "Al Capone's Vault all over again."

In the 2011 episode of Justified, "Save My Love," Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Art Mullen says while rubbing his hands together moments before an evidence storage locker is opened, "I feel like Geraldo Rivera right before they opened Al Capone's vault." After it's revealed to be empty, he quips, "Now I really feel like Geraldo."

In the 2013 "Ka 'oia'i'o ma loko" episode of Hawaii Five-0, Jerry Ortega makes a comment about how Geraldo Rivera must have felt before opening the secret compartment in a statue.

In the 2014 "You're Not Invited" episode of The Goldbergs, Murray anxiously awaits the opening of the vault, only to realize he cared more for his son's happiness by watching him playing laser tag with his friends.